Reds
First screened some time in 1994 / Most recently screened in July 2016
Director: Warren Beatty. Cast: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosinski, Jack Nicholson, Maureen Stapleton, Paul Sorvino, M. Emmet Walsh, Nicolas Coster, Ian Wolfe, MacIntyre Dixon, Pat Starr, George Plimpton, Max Wright, Gene Hackman, William Daniels, Harry Ditson, Leigh Curran, Shane Rimmer, Jerry Hardin, R.G. Armstrong, Josef Sommer, Jan Triska, Kathryn Grody, Brenda Currin, Dolph Sweet, Bessie Love, Roger Baldwin, Henry Miller, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Dora Russell, Scott Nearing, Tess Davis, Heaton Vorse, Hamilton Fish, Isaac Don Levine, Rebecca West, Will Durant, Will Weinstone, Emmanuel Herbert, Arne Swabeck, Adele Nathan, George Seldes, Kenneth Chamberlain, Blanche Hays Fagen, Galina von Meck, Art Shields, Andrew Dasburg, Hugo Gellert, Dorothy Frooks, George Jessel, Jacob Bailin, John Ballata, Lucita Williams, Bernadine Szold-Fritz, Jessica Smith, Harry Carlisle, Arthur Mayer. Screenplay: Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths (based on the book Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed).

 Twitter Capsule: Amazingly shot, ambitiously mounted, lustily played. Honors idea of political engagement as stormy, impassioned way of life.

VOR: ⑤  American movies persistently ignore political quagmires, questions of theory, and foreign affairs. Reds immerses itself in all three, in a distant era, while looking great.


Photo © 1981 Paramount Pictures

Not yet reviewed in full. Grade: A–

Academy Award Nominations and Winners:
Best Picture
★Best Director: Warren Beatty
Best Actress: Diane Keaton
Best Actor: Warren Beatty
★Best Supporting Actress: Maureen Stapleton
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson
Best Original Screenplay: Warren Beatty & Trevor Griffiths
★Best Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro
Best Art Direction: Richard Sylbert; Michael Seirton
Best Costume Design: Shirley Russell
Best Film Editing: Dede Allen & Craig McKay
Best Sound: Dick Vorisek, Tom Fleischman, and Simon Kaye

Golden Globe Nominations and Winners:
Best Picture (Drama)
★Best Director: Warren Beatty
Best Actress (Drama): Diane Keaton
Best Actor (Drama): Warren Beatty
Best Supporting Actress: Maureen Stapleton
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson
Best Screenplay: Warren Beatty & Trevor Griffiths

Other Awards:
Directors Guild of America: Best Director
Writers Guild of America: Best Original Screenplay (Drama)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Director; Best Supporting Actress (Stapleton); Best Cinematography
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Picture
National Society of Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress (Stapleton)
Boston Society of Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor (Nicholson)
National Board of Review: Best Picture (tie); Best Director; Best Supporting Actor (Nicholson)
British Academy Awards (BAFTAs): Best Supporting Actress (Stapleton); Best Supporting Actor (Nicholson)
Permalink Home 1981 ABC Blog E-Mail